I don't hate nobody. I hate certain conditions that are inflicted upon the people - and they're helpless with it.

I dreamt that I could paint you with words, but there were no colors bright enough, black or white enough, blue or green enough...they didn't mean enough

To me, the job of the artist is to provide a useful and intelligent vocabulary for the world to be able to articulate feelings they experience everyday, and otherwise wouldn't have the means to express in a meaningful and useful way.

I just don't think it's very dignified to ask people to like you. You can just wind up being somebody's ottoman.

People don't like the music that's out now, that's on their radio stations, and they want to hear something different, but they're just the audience. You know, people will keep the TV on even if a show is on that they hate - because, unfortunately, they've been programmed to do that. [But] they are really looking for something that's gonna speak to the world that they're living in. That's what people are looking for, but they're not finding it.

The new moon rode high in the crown of the metropolis. Shinin', like "Who on top of this?

Focused. I'm a hustler. And my hustle is trying to figure out the best ways to do what I like without having to do much else.